Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it will seek the death penalty in the case of a 21-year-old Seattle woman accused of killing a Border Patrol agent in January.
According to a DOJ press release, 21-year-old Teresa Youngblut and her companion, Felix Bauckholt, were stopped on Interstate 91 in Coventry, Vermont, on January 20 by Border Patrol agent David Christopher Maland. DOJ states that Youngblut opened fire on the 44-year-old Maland, killing him. Bauckholt was killed in the resulting shootout.
Youngblut and Bauckholt had been under surveillance days before the traffic stop, according to DOJ, because an employee at the hotel where they were staying had reported that the two were “wearing tactical gear and appeared to be armed.”
On August 14, a Vermont federal grand jury returned a four-count superseding indictment, charging Youngblut “with the murder of a Border Patrol agent, the assault of two additional agents with a deadly weapon, and related firearms offenses.
“For the current charges, the maximum penalty is death, and Attorney General Pamela Bondi has authorized and directed the Acting United States Attorney for the District of Vermont to pursue capital punishment in this case. Consistent with that authorization and direction, the Acting U.S. Attorney has filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty against Youngblut,” the DOJ states in the press release.